Pebble Beach Golf Course VS GolfMagic | How hard are courses on the PGA Tour?
In this video, Alex from GolfMagic loads up Pebble Beach Golf Course on Trackman and plays the first nine holes.
It was an exciting week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and us golf fans were once again treated to the magical scenes at Pebble Beach - but just how difficult is the iconic US Open venue to play?
It's up there as one of the most famous golf courses on the planet and the greens at Pebble Beach are notoriously small, whilst the weather plays a vital role in how tough the course is playing.
Now we haven't been lucky enough to play Pebble Beach (yet), but that didn't stop our equipment editor Alex from taking on the front nine of the California-based course from the comfort of the Swing Suite at Croham Hurst Golf Club.
So how did Alex get on at the iconic venue?
WATCH ALEX TAKE ON PEBBLE BEACH IN THE VIDEO BELOW:
ALEX'S HOLE-BY-HOLE ANALYSIS
1st - Easy hole being under 400 yards but it was a very quick realisation that this wasn't going to be simple. A missed green and a missed putt made a very poor bogey. Not the start I was looking for.
2nd - Over 500 yards for a par-4 that is usually a par-5, I played this very well but a missed fairway cost me for the second shot, and up and downs are more or less impossible on the Trackman.
3rd - Another short hole but it's clear that I need to work on my approach play! A short iron and another missed green lead to a short game disasterclass, with a juicy double to put me to 4-over par through three.
4th - Another short hole and another fairway found but having not done a gap test in a long time it led to my wedge flying 15-yards long. Albeit my next shot did hit the pin, but 9ft was not close enough for a one putt from the Trackman! Another bogey it is.
5th - This hole will haunt my nightmares. A pure shot to the centre green was the aim, but a slight fade led to my first water ball of the front nine. The second shot wasn't much better and a calamity of a chip lead to a triple-bogey. Embarrassed and angry, who knows what would happen next.
6th - The easiest hole on the course in my opinion, the tee shot again was straight down the middle. The 3-wood, although struck well enough, was not high enough to clear the steep incline that I was unaware off, so it clattered into the hill and left me 100-yards for my third. But, I hit a green! A decent approach shot to 20ft led to my first par.
7th - 100-yard shot on one of the most famous holes in the world and of course I nearly chunk it in the sea! Luckily, my TaylorMade MG2 TW saves me and it runs to 30ft and another par. Perhaps under par is in sight.
8th - An AWFUL tee shot that I fully thought was to be my second water ball but ended up okay led to an extremely intimidating second shot. A great strike led to the ball being in the rough about 30ft away. A deft chip to 5ft and I was thinking this would surely be a par. Alas, the Trackman was not in a good mood, and I had to settle for a bogey.
9th - A LONG par-4 to finish and a decent drive that hugged the right side of the fairway for a bit too long before fading into the rough left me with a 230-yard shot that any amateur golfer would sweat over. The strike on the second shot was second to none and the ball ran mere inches from the pin, before settling 30ft away from the hole.
This led to a par and a very underwhelming 9-over par score of 45 for the front nine. Poor approach play and short game is what needs to be worked on before I attempt the back nine!
Stay tuned for our next Challenge Video as Alex plays the back nine at Pebble Beach!
